


alone, together

by JuliaRose12



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, Star Wars Original Trilogy
Genre: Angst, F/M, Falling In Love, Hurt/Comfort, Pining, Sharing a Bed, Sickfic, Slight Canon Divergence, Unresolved Romantic Tension, more angst that i usually write tbh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-29
Updated: 2020-03-29
Packaged: 2021-02-28 22:34:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,842
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23384578
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JuliaRose12/pseuds/JuliaRose12
Summary: Leia wouldn’t have been so annoyed about the isolation, really, if Han wasn’t being so dramatically difficult about it.or, Han and Leia are put in quarantine together so they don't get the entirety of Echo Base sick. Being angry about the situation doesn't last nearly as long as they expect.
Relationships: Leia Organa/Han Solo
Comments: 20
Kudos: 65





	alone, together

**Author's Note:**

> joining in on the quarantine fic trend with this one - featuring, once again, my favorite couple of all time with a healthy dose of angst and comfort mixed in. I am not used to writing conflict at all, so this was pretty new for me!! comments and feedback would be much appreciated, and i want to say thank you to my angels lizza and kai for reading it over for me <3 i hope you enjoy - thank you for choosing my lil fic to read during these crazy times <3

Leia wouldn’t have been so annoyed about the isolation, really, if Han wasn’t being so dramatically difficult about it. 

It had been Rieekan’s decision - and it made sense, so she certainly wasn’t going to be the one to complain. The virus Han had picked up on his last supply run was generally mild but highly contagious, and they couldn’t have the entire group at Echo Base incapacitated one at a time. Leia had been the only person close enough to Han to catch it before they both started feeling sick, and since Wookiees have historically been immune, it was only the two of them that needed to be dealt with.

“Can’t we be in separate rooms?” Han had spit out during their meeting with Rieekan, who had then calmly informed him that the base was already too full, meaning that it didn’t make sense to use up two rooms, and then have to clean both said rooms, when one room with two beds would be far large enough for two people to share for 24 hours. 

Leia was fine with it - their relationship, in her eyes at least, had been getting better. They weren’t at odds every waking moment anymore, she had been joining him for supply runs, and they’d been spending more time actually talking to each other than yelling. It had gotten better, but then worse, because even though things had changed, the past few weeks had been more tense than Leia would have liked, peaking at a near fight when Han hadn’t even tried to hide how little he wanted to be alone with her for a full day. 

“This illness won’t be a serious one,” the base’s resident medical droid had informed them before escorting them to their room. “Most of those afflicted only experience one or two significant symptoms that pass quickly, but they vary from person to person, making it rather unpredictable. 24 hours in isolation should be long enough to ensure that the virus can no longer be spread to anyone else.” 

“We’ll keep an eye on each other,” Leia had gathered all the positivity she could muster into her voice for this conversation - she didn’t need anyone worrying about her, droid or otherwise, when they needed to be focused on their jobs at the base, and she wanted to make up for Han’s clear distaste about the entire situation. 

It’s been 6 hours now, though, and she thinks she might be reaching her serenity threshold. 

“Han,” she grits her teeth, which only aggravates the achiness she’s feeling. “Are you capable of opening and closing a drawer without slamming it, or do you need me to show you how?”

He shoots her a dirty look from across the room. “I’m perfectly capable, princess, but that’s not the point,” he smiles at her in an absurdly fake way, takes the rebellion’s standard-issue lounge pants out of the dresser, and slams the drawer with even more force than he did with the last two. 

They’ve barely spoken two words to each other that didn’t turn into a fight since they got here. Leia’s spent most of the day so far in bed, reading, reviewing reports on her datapad, and trying to ignore Han pacing around the room and refusing to look her in direction. Everything he’s done, whether it’s been drinking a glass of water or taking the heavy blankets off his bed, has been laced with anger and an uncomfortable stiffness that she doesn’t think she’s ever seen from him before. 

In the past, their fights have almost always evolved from the fact that he never seems to be able to leave her alone - constantly antagonizing her to the point where it was obvious he wanted her attention, even when they were screaming at each other. 

But this, the way he’s finding ways to ignore her even in such a small space, the way he’s acting incapable of holding a normal conversation with her and refusing to even try, is different.

“Is there a reason you’re being ten times more impossible today than usual?” She slides out from under the sheets and steps into the middle of the room. “You’re making this so much more difficult than it needs to be.”

“I’m not makin’ a single thing difficult,” he growls, sitting on his bed with his back to her. “I just don’t want to be stuck in here with someone who’s questioning everything I do.”

“Don’t you dare try to turn this on me,” Leia feels the anger she’s been holding back catching up with her now, and it makes her feel dizzy and unsteady on her feet. “You’ve been blatantly repulsed by the idea of being quarantined with me since our meeting with Rieekan, while I’ve done nothing but cooperate with everyone here, and with you.”

“This is what you call cooperating?” Han finally stands and whirls around to face her. “You haven’t stopped acting high and mighty since we got in here, and I’m sick of-” 

“I don’t care what you’re sick of,” Leia’s voice goes quieter, and she steps back towards her own bed, feeling dizzier than she did when she first stood up. There’s spots in her vision before she can get another word out, and Han’s response is muffled, fading faster and faster before the entire room goes dark.

\---

Leia wakes back in her bed, disorientation settling in her head and then bleeding out slowly. The lights are dimmer than they were before, and there’s a blanket from Han’s bed positioned deliberately on top of her. It isn’t until she leans up on her elbows that she sees Han perched on the edge of the other bed, watching her.

“You’re awake,” there isn’t a hint of anger in his voice now, he just sounds tired, and if Leia was really looking for it, maybe a bit sad. “You passed out, lucky you were right by the bed and didn’t hit your head or anything.” 

She nods. “They said that could happen.” It feels like all the energy and tension has been sapped from the room, and all that’s left is muted stillness, enveloping them both and blanketing every angry word they’d thrown at each other for the first half of the day.

“You want some water or something?” Han gets up before she answers and fills a glass, setting it on the table beside her and stepping back until his heels hit the edge of his own bed. It’s then that she looks at him, actually looks him in the eyes for the first time since they were locked in here, and sees genuine concern on his face. He rubs the back of his neck and then diverts his eyes to the floor, but when he glances back up, the way he looks at her is dizzying in an entirely different way. 

“Thanks, Han,” she manages a small smile, and he returns it. “I think we probably just both need some rest.” 

“Mhm,” Han nods and then pulls the sheets down on his bed, moving to lie down. “M’ not feelin’ so hot myself, but you can wake me, you know. If you feel sick or anything like that.” 

“Okay,” Leia nods, even though he can’t see it. “You too.” 

\---

Leia doesn’t need windows or a lack of natural light to know that it isn’t morning when she wakes again. The only light in the small space is coming from the ‘fresher, and it takes her a moment to look around and register the fact that the light wasn’t on earlier and that Han is no longer in his bed. 

She doesn’t feel lightheaded anymore, and the door isn’t closed all the way, so she quietly slips out of bed and follows the light.

“Han?” She can’t keep the concern out of her voice as she pushes the door open, in the same way that he couldn’t keep it off his face earlier. He’s leaned over the sink with his forearms braced on the edges, a thin sheen of sweat glistening on the back of his neck. “What’s wrong?”

“Head hurts,” his voice is shaky, almost trembling, and she rests her hand on his back without even thinking about it. “Real bad.” 

Leia runs through the list of possible symptoms the medical droid had recited to her and Han before they’d been isolated. A migraine had definitely been one of them. “What can I do?” Leia pauses for just a moment before lying her other hand over his where it’s dangling above the sink. If he’d carried her to bed earlier, then this has to be okay, too. “Are you going to be sick?”

The harsh but quiet laugh she gets in return surprises her. “Already took care of that.”

“How about you lie down, then?” Leia keeps her voice gentle, as soothing as she can manage, and it's well-received, because Han lifts his head and nods before she can get another word out. He clumsily palms the light off and she follows him to bed, watching from the edge as he gracelessly collapses onto his stomach and buries his face into the pillow.

And because all the anger from earlier in the day has dissolved, because she can’t even remember what they fought about this morning, because they’re both sick and tired and because Han’s pale face in the bathroom had made her chest ache, Leia gets into Han’s bed instead of her own. 

She doesn’t lie down, not yet, but she sits with her back against the headboard and slides her fingers into his hair, scratching over his scalp and not thinking about anything more than the warmth of him beside her. 

“M’ sorry,” Han mumbles into the blankets beside Leia’s leg. “Sorry for actin’ like I have.”

She knows he’s nearly delirious, but it sounds like there’s something else fighting to be said, so she waits.

“It hurts,” he sighs, almost in a whisper, and her hand in his hair freezes. “Hurts bein’ around you.”

She can’t stop the “why?” that slips out of her mouth, and it’s the only thing she can even think to say.

“Dunno,” he says before absently pressing his forehead against her thigh. “Just hurts.” 

“Han,” she can’t see him, can’t see anything, but she knows this isn’t a conversation they’ll have right now. Maybe not ever, even, but she needs it to be. ‘Another time,’ she reassures herself to force her heart to stop pounding, ‘he’ll tell me what he means when we can both think straight.’ “Han, you should try to sleep.”

“Mhm,” he’s already halfway there. “‘Night, princess.” 

That nickname has always infuriated her. This time, it nearly brings her to tears.

She waits until he’s asleep to lie down, not in her own bed, but beside him. She knows that this won’t last - odds are that they’ll be back to normal in the morning, but she doesn’t want to break the spell, not yet, at least.

“Goodnight, Han,” she whispers as his breathing aligns with hers, and they sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> you can find me on twitter @elvesofmirkwood - i am always down to talk about star wars !!


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